A few rendering questions

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Foxcroft

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Firstly, i'm not a highly experienced external renderer, I'm still building battons then filling in the middle to build the wall.  Ive got a small job (which looks very similar to the pic below, except there is render where that PVC is) which requires me rendering a small panal on a gable wall which leads up to the roof, how would i go about building the diagonal batonalong the roof, as there is no edge to work off, and i still need to keep my work inline with the brick wall.

Also, what do you guys mix up small amounts of render in? Do you use large buckets and paddle mixer, or hire out/own cement mixers

Thanks for any help

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I dont understand about the batons? do you mean like screeds? As for mixing we have our own mixer they are worth there weight in gold, if your gonna be doing a lot of rendering i would recomend getting one, we first picked up a cheap mixer which was ok but they are not very stable if you put a big mix into them they tend to tip over and start breakdancing on the floor a belle mixer is best.
 
lets play chase the mixer down the road ;D
as long as you have a 4 - 5 foot straight edge you can rule off the left side just carry on up to the roof line, you could place a batton in the middle of the right panel, you could use a taught string line to make sure it's flush with the brickwork, i'd cover the existing brickwork carefully aswell mate
if you are working flush to the existing brickwork you could use 10 -13 mm render stop beads and butt these up to the existing brickwork leaving a very fine gap, it's not so much for a poss weak spot but you could slide some gaffer tape between the gap and have a nice crisp bead to work to rather than float it into the original bricks, the customer will have to fill it with mastic before painting
 
also mate are you going over existing render or is the customer taking the cladding off to be rendered?
 
Its not cladding, thats where the render is (the pics not the house, just a very similar bungalow, that I found off google as an example)  

The panel is 3 metres along the vertical.

I'm gonna hack off all the render, prob drill lots of holes, then hack it off with a chisel.  And yes, by batons, i do mean screeds, was thinking, if the brickworks level i should just be able to work over the old area, and bring it in plumb, without having to worry about the brick walls too much.  Is it essential that I start at the top, and work down the panel, or can i get away with starting at the bottom (where i can use the bricks as a ruling off edge) and working up, the, panels about 3.5m high at its peak.

I dont really do lots of rendering, just the odd internal repair, and scratch coat.

Sorry, one last question, what do you guys do about buying smaller quantities of plastering sand, worked out I need abot 250kgs, but I can only finds the 850kg big bags from B&Q and Wickes, do the smaller merchants stock them?
 
if your gonna use a hammer and bolster mate be prepared to be disheartened...i'd nip down the hire shop and hire yourself a medium sized kango...much much easier, no holes to drill, just get it started, get underneath it and it'll be on the floor before you know it...tell em what its for down the hire shop and they'll give you one the right size...theres some fantastic little ones now not much bigger than a large hammer drill but with the 'joules' (knocking off power) of a much larger machine..
as for using the brick walls, think nicksey mentioned using stop beads...damn good idea - keeps your straight edge off the bricks, giving you a much straighter edge to rule off from AND keeps your bricks clean...get render on em and youll wish you hadnt..trust me..prolly even a good idea to gaffer tape the brick face at the edge...
 
p.s. start at the top working downwards..then youre pushing the render back up into itself, start your top edge with a good toeful, get plenty on cos you can always rule it off (tendency is to get it on too thin at the top and it looks pants), work from right to left if your right handed (pushing it into itself again)...
scratch it first with waterproofer then when you come to float coat youll get all the panel on in one go and have all the time in the world to rule it off dead flat and get a good float finish on it..
you can possibly get it in one coat if its pretty thin and there aint a great deal of suction...easier to scratch first and float day after though if you aint used to it...
 
Would you still put an sbr surry on first?

Do you mean put the stop beading all around the panel, or just on the brick area?
 
no not if i was gonna scratch it, it'll do the same job..sbr's a good idea though if it needs to be on thin and theres high suction...just means you can get away with a thin coat and still have ages to work it..
beads around the panel edge wont hurt either, it just gives you something to rule off, assuming your straight edge is long enough...
if you lay it on real thick (float coat) and rule it off wet, leave it a bit and rule it again, you can only do so much when wet...last rule just before you float it just scrape the high spots off and you should be bang on flat and flush where you want it...
dont play with render too much when its wet, all youll do is bring the water to the surface when you want it to go the other way, then it'll be on the floor...render dries from the back...
only prob i could see with an sbr slurry is it might kill all the suction thereby if you play with it AT ALL itll be on the floor, a scratch coat with waterproofer wont kill all of it, just enough to give you a chance with your float coat...dont leave it too long though before you give it a second coat or the waterproofer will have cured too much and youll find yourself will sod all suction and were back to that again...
 
nah mate, scratch it, then drop whatever scaffold you need to (minimum work, dont worry explain and theyl understand..ali tower is very helpful on hire)..then float coat in the morning...
bit more experience on a hot day you can scratch in the morning and float in the afternoon but if i were u id give myself the best chance and hit it over two days, take yer time then you can stand at the road, look at it, see its dead flat, no blemishes and think 'f'ck me, thats a nice bit o rendering'...then youll get more work off it..
tip...dont float it (i.e. rub it up) too early (youl take the flatness out of it, if the float 'sticks' youre too early), get it flat with the edge or the darby, float for finish...straight edge for flatness...
btw im no expert on rendering... bod, nicksey or especially church(heston blumenthal) will give out the best tips....what ive said is basic stuff...good luck mate, take yer time... 8-)
 
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